


The Art of Sharing Your Feelings

by dearzoemurphy



Series: Queer Studies in an Alternate Timeline [5]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Season/Series 05, lesbian Annie Edison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:43:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28494807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: Annie Edison is always the first person at Save Greendale Committee meetings. Jeff Winger is never the second, except for today, when he has a question for Annie.Set after 05x07 Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality.
Relationships: Annie Edison & Jeff Winger, Annie Edison/Rachel (mentioned), Britta Perry/Jeff Winger (mentioned)
Series: Queer Studies in an Alternate Timeline [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1896352
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29





	The Art of Sharing Your Feelings

Annie Edison was always the first one to arrive in Study Room F and take her seat at the table. She would unpack her things - usually at least one binder, sometimes a textbook, and _always_ more than one purple pen - and be ready to go before the rest of the group joined her. Be it a study group session of the olden days or a Save Greendale Committee meeting of the new, it was just the way things had always been and continued to be.

Jeff Winger was typically not the second person in the study room. Before Troy had left, him and Abed would either walk in with Annie or come in together a little while after her. Sometimes, Shirley or Britta would grab coffee with her before morning meetings and drink it while chatting on the couches as everyone else trickled in. Other times, Chang or Duncan or Hickey would stumble in a little earlier than usual, take their seat, give Annie a polite nod, then sit in silence until another committee member showed up. But very rarely was Jeff the second person in the room.

However, on this particular afternoon, he was. Annie had just unpacked her binder and was in the process of pouring over her to-do list and deciding what their top priorities should be when Jeff strode into the room and slid into his chair. Annie looked up, expecting to see Abed or Duncan or anyone else.

“Oh! Hi. You’re here earlier than usual,” she observed.

Jeff shrugged, clearly trying to be nonchalant about it. “Well, maybe everyone else is just later than usual.”

“You know that being early isn’t a bad thing, right?”

“To you it’s not. To me, it’s extra time spent working. Or worse, waiting to work,” he said with an over-the-top shiver.

Annie rolled her eyes at his theatrics. “Sure. Because drinking scotch alone in your office is a _much_ better use of your time.”

“I have my scotch, you have your color-coded binders. Glass houses, Annie.”

She sighed. “Touché.”

She returned to her long list of potential school improvements, humming as she checked off tasks that had already been completed. Jeff pulled out his phone, presumably to text someone that may or may not actually be a real person. However, Annie noticed him turn it off and slide it back into his pocket after only a moment.

“Can I ask you something?”

Annie looked up from her binder again and set down her pen. “Of course, what’s your question?”

“Are you happy? Like, with Rachel? With just…being in a relationship?”

“Absolutely!” Annie answered without a second thought, “Neither of us have dated anyone in a while, so it’s been really fun to go on dates and do a bunch of couple-y things over this past month.”

“Mhm,” Jeff murmured.

“Can I ask why you want to know?”

“Well…I’ve just been thinking.”

Annie snorted. “Care to elaborate?”

“I’ve been thinking that maybe I’d like that sort of thing. Maybe I’m ready for…” Jeff paused to cringe, “...a relationship.”

“Oh!” Annie exclaimed, genuinely stunned for a moment, “Wow, why now?”

“I don’t know, after seeing you with Rachel at the picnic and noticing how happy you’ve been lately, I just started wondering if it might be nice to have something like that.”

“Have you just been thinking of being in a relationship in a general sense? Or is there someone specific that you want to be in a relationship with?”

In an incredibly uncharacteristic move, Jeff’s face turned a slight shade of pink. “Ah, well…not really. Not seriously, at least. Just sort of a placeholder in my mind, you know? Until I meet someone else to actually date.”

“So there _is_ someone, then,” Annie said, almost smug as she leaned forward and propped her head up on her hands.

“No, there’s not! Forget it, this is _so_ high school,” Jeff grumbled. He pulled his phone out again and started mashing buttons in annoyance.

“Sorry, I was just curious,” Annie mumbled as she returned to her binder.

They sat in silence for a moment; Jeff typing on his phone and Annie ranking the tasks that remained on their list in order of importance. She was content to drop the subject, but Jeff eventually let out a loud sigh, set his phone down on the table, and broke the silence.

“It’s Britta.”

“What?” Annie looked up again to see Jeff leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples.

“I’m thinking about dating Britta. God, that sentence sounds so stupid out loud,” he sat up and paused before adding: “Forget I ever said anything.”

“No, that’s not stupid! If you want to talk about your feelings for her, you know that I won’t be judgemental,” Annie assured him.

“I know you won’t be. I’m more judgemental of myself, it’s been so long since I had… _feelings_ for someone. It feels embarrassing to even acknowledge them, much less talk about them,” Jeff explained.

“Well, then you don’t have to talk about them if you don’t want to.”

“But…I kind of want to? I don’t know, I don’t usually do this kind of thing! I just haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since last night and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“What happened last night?”

“Well, we went to this party that some of her old friends were throwing,” Jeff began to explain, “She ended up giving a speech at one point and…she just looked so pretty. She was talking about listening to your heart and trusting yourself, and she just cares so much, you know? She cares about pointless shit and important shit and everything in between. She’s always been mildly infuriating but she’s also been…amazing.”

Annie nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right, she has.”

Jeff shook his head. “Okay, that was embarrassing. I’m never going to share my feelings with anyone ever again.”

“It’s not embarrassing to have feelings, Jeff! It’s normal. It’s what makes us human, right?”

“Wow, way to make it sound pretentious.”

“Whatever, it’s true! You’ve been able to express your platonic feelings for all of us for a while, why is this any different?” Annie asked.

“Because it is! It’s romantic feelings for _Britta_! I can already hear her making fun of me for it! Not to mention, I still don’t know if I could actually handle a relationship. Or if she would want one. And none of it matters, anyway. I’m sorry for bringing any of this up,” Jeff said with a sigh.

“No, it does matter! It matters because you’re someone who clearly wants a romantic connection with someone, and you have someone that you want to pursue one with,” Annie said, “I know that I would be fine if I wasn’t dating Rachel. But I also know that I prefer being with her to being single. If you tried to make things work with Britta, you might find that you feel the same way about her.”

Jeff stared down at the table for a moment in silent contemplation. “What’s the best thing about dating Rachel?”

It was Annie’s turn to think for a moment.

“It’s knowing that no matter what, there’s always someone in my corner. I have that with you guys, of course, but it’s a little bit different. I don’t know, I think it’s the knowledge that, day after day, she’s choosing to be with me. There’s nothing else tying us together, just the choice to keep spending time with each other and to keep supporting one another.”

Jeff nodded as he processed her answer. “It doesn’t hurt that she’s really pretty,” he joked.

Annie’s mouth quirked up into a smile. “It doesn’t hurt, no. Being with Rachel, it’s…it’s made me understand rom-coms. I always liked them, but I’d never _really_ felt like anyone in those movies felt about their partners before. But I get it now,” she said. She reached over to place a hand on Jeff’s arm. “You should be with someone that makes you understand rom-coms. If that someone is Britta, then you should go for it. Don’t let her go just because you’re scared or embarrassed.”

Jeff smiled back, though his had a somewhat sad quality to it. “I’m happy to hear that things are going so well with Rachel. You know, I was a little worried about her at first.”

“Why?” Annie asked, pulling her hand away and settling back into her chair.

“You used to like me, Annie. Your taste is questionable at best. I was worried that Rachel might be like me, and I just…didn’t want you to be with someone like me. You deserve so much better. It’s good to hear that she is.”

“Jeff…you’re a great guy. Don’t make me sit here and list all the reasons why,” Annie said lightly, “There’s also a long list of reasons why we never dated, but you being a bad person isn’t one of them. You know that, right?”

“I do. But you still deserve better. Hell, Britta deserves better. I’m…”

“Jeff. Stop. Sure, you were a douche when we first met you, but all of us were a little lost when we met each other. We’ve all become better people since then, you included! Honestly, at this point? You’re the biggest softie I know. Anyone would be lucky to date you, just like we’re lucky to be friends with you,” Annie said.

“You mean that?”

“Of course. You know I wouldn’t lie.”

Jeff smiled and looked down at the table. “I’ll have to work on my public image, then. Can’t have too many people thinking that I’m a softie.”

Annie chuckled. “Yup. You should get to work on that right away.”

They fell into a more contented silence, not focused on any task in particular. Jeff’s gaze drifted back up to Annie and his smile broadened.

“Thanks for listening, Annie. And just for being you. I hope you know how great you are.”

She gave him an equally warm smile in return. “Of course. Anytime. And- I hope you know that you’re pretty great, too.”

Before Jeff could respond, Abed and Chang entered the room, having some sort of loud argument as they went to find their seats. Duncan and Hickey came in through the back a moment later, grumbling about a faculty meeting that Jeff probably should have been at. Britta and Shirley filtered in not long after that, rushing over to their seats and frantically throwing their bags down on the ground.

“So! What’s on the agenda today, Annie?” Britta asked.

“Well, I have some ideas…how do we feel about tackling problems with the cafeteria food?” she replied.

The group as a whole groaned, causing Annie to laugh.

“Alright, something else then. How about we cover just a few quick housekeeping things today so we can get out early?”

“Works for me. Liverpool FC is playing tonight and I _cannot_ miss it,” Duncan said.

“Great! Let’s split into teams so that we can get everything done even faster. Jeff, Britta, can you two go do our monthly stairwell mold check?” Annie asked, glancing over at Jeff out of the corner of her eye. He gave her a frustrated smirk, seeing right through her incredibly transparent attempt at matchmaking.

“Sure. I’ve never done it, but sounds easy enough,” Britta said with a shrug.

“Sounds great, Annie,” Jeff added through gritted teeth.

She only gave him a triumphant look in return. “Why don’t you two go get a head start on that?” she suggested, waving the pair away.

Britta nearly jumped out of her chair and dashed out the door, wanting to waste no time in completing the task at hand. Jeff lingered for a moment, only to lean across the table towards Annie and whisper a simple “I hate you”.

Annie laughed as he turned to walk away. “It’ll be fine, Jeff! I’m sure you’ll do great.”

He frowned at her through the window as Britta started dragging him out of the library. Annie wasn’t worried, though. She knew that - almost certainly - he would thank her again later.

**Author's Note:**

> Jeff and Annie could have been a great example of mlm/wlw solidarity send tweet
> 
> as always, please leave any thoughts/opinions/etc. down below!! I hope you all had a great new year’s day and are staying safe. <3


End file.
